Republican PAC Targets General Assembly Democrats

A Republican political action committee is blasting freshman state Sen. Mae Flexer for being soft on crime, supporting repeal of the death penalty and favoring Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's early prisoner release program.

In a tough-on-crime commercial reminiscent of the well-known Willie Horton ad from 1988, a Republican political action committee is blasting freshman state Sen. Mae Flexer for being soft on crime, supporting repeal of the death penalty and favoring Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's early prisoner release program.

The commercial is the first in a statewide campaign by Trumbull First Selectman Timothy Herbst in an effort to help Republicans in the state Senate and House of Representatives. Herbst said Friday that similar ads will be coming soon in targeted races against Democratic Sens. Steve Cassano of Manchester and Joseph Crisco of Woodbridge.

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The one-minute ad references Malloy's early-release program for prisoners, which has been the subject of a long-running debate between Republicans and Democrats since it was approved five years ago. The two sides have never agreed on the controversial program, with Republicans saying it is soft on criminals and Democrats saying it is an effective policy that is used in other states.

Michael Mandell, the executive director of the Connecticut Democratic Party, blasted the ad as non-factual and referred to Herbst's narrow loss to Democrat Denise Nappier two years ago in the race for state treasurer. His campaign manager was J.R. Romano, who has since become the state party chairman.

"Here we go again. Tim Herbst is trying to get his name out without facts to back himself up," Mandell said Friday. "He'll take every opportunity to reinvent his and Chairman Romano's loss in 2014 to be considered a real candidate for 2018. It's too bad he can't erase the late-night threats he sent to other legislative candidates."

Mandell was referring to an ongoing clash between Herbst and state Rep. David Alexander, an Enfield Democrat who lost to Herbst in a race for student body president at Trinity College 15 years ago. Herbst campaigned door-to-door recently in Alexander's district and says he will have another ad out next week against Alexander.

The Flexer campaign and the Malloy administration did not offer immediate responses.

Herbst says the ads will run on radio and online, including Facebook — the way that he reached voters two years ago.

"Social media is very effective," Herbst said. "You can target certain audiences, by town, by gender, by age group. It's more affordable than broadcast television. You can reach the people you want to reach."

Herbst and other Republicans say they have a strong chance of defeating Flexer because she is a freshman in a region of the state that includes a high number of disenchanted voters. Flexer, a former House lawmaker from the Danielson section of Killingly, is running in a rematch against Republican John French of Windham after defeating him by about 500 votes two years ago.

"There's a lot of anger in the Second District," Herbst said. "The levels of anxiety are much higher than in other areas of the state."

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Democrats say they believe that Herbst will run for governor in 2018, but Herbst says he is currently focused only on the 2016 elections.

Public records show that TIMPAC, created by Herbst, has raised more than $16,000 and had about $11,400 on hand as of the latest public filing date on October 10. The contributors include WWE wrestling entrepreneur Linda McMahon, former Republican National Committee member Patricia Longo, former state chairman Chris Healy, and former Greenwich Republican chairman Edward Dadakis.

The Malloy administration's chief criminal justice adviser, Michael Lawlor, has said that violent criminals have been serving longer sentences than others convicted of similar crimes in the past. He has also repeatedly noted that crime has dropped in Connecticut, which is following a national trend.

Based on statistics reported to the FBI, violent crimes in Connecticut dropped overall by 22 percent from 2010 to 2015. Among nonviolent property crimes, motor vehicle thefts increased by 3.7 percent during 2015, but burglaries dropped by 16.7 percent. Larcenies dropped by 4.9 percent.

Violent crime has been dropping in many cities across the country as part of the national trend, while others have had spikes. Crime in New York City has dropped sharply over the past 25 years, peaking in 1990 under Mayor David Dinkins with more than 2,200 murders – an average of more than six a day. For 2014, New York had fewer than 350 murders – a drop of 85 percent over 25 years.

Connecticut's crime rate dropped during the 6 1/2-year tenure of Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and is continuing under Malloy.